Embraer performed the maiden flight, today, of the first of three EMB 145 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft ordered by the Indian government. The flight was well performed and all planned tests were successfully achieved. It tooked place at Embraer’s headquarters, in São José do Campos.

I hope they keep the black colour for the composite casings and not paint it dull grey, looks way cooler...and literally black ops .... looks like maws/rwr? under each wing and one on the big underfin below the tail...

what is that black rectangular panel on the side for?

good job by Embraer on making all the mods ... I knew they would deliver..good set of chaps.

Question: Currently the aircraft is using a dummy antennae on its back or the one made by DRDO has been integrated. What I had heard last was that DRDO has delivered a dummy antennae unit to be put on the aircraft by Embraer, using which they would do testing and then deliver the aircraft to India. DRDO would then do the actual antennae integration.

^ yes bmallick, it would be carrying ballast weight to simulate the mission payload during flight envelope testing now. mission eqpt will be integrated in India only - could take 2-3 yrs to install and test all that here...esp if something is not yet tested on CABS older a/c like the main radar for instance.

USAF and NATO E-3s are being fitted with the AN/AYR-1 passive sensor system, which can locate fighter radars 550 km away. This takes the form of a 3.96m canoe-shaped bulge on each side of the aircraft's forward fuselage, supplemented by pairs of smaller bulges on the nose and tail. The first NATO aircraft fitted with this equipment, LX-N90442, returned to Geilenkirchen in October 1991.

In October 1995 the first USAF aircraft was fitted with the AYR-1 as part of the Block 30/35 upgrade. The remaining aircraft are being retrofitted at Oklahoma City ALC by 2001. Aircraft weight is increased by 862kg. French E-3Fs will also receive the equipment.

The RAF's E-3Ds were specified with Loral Yellowgate ESM which performs a similar function. The sensors for this system are housed in wingtip pods. In April 1999 Racal-Thorn Defence was awarded a contract worth about £5m to upgrade Yellowgate. These improvements will enhance the aircrew's threat warning and surveillance data, as well as reducing the system's weight and increasing its reliability.

French Air Force E-3Fs are also fitted with ESM equipment.

--The Boeing Defense, Space and Security AN/AYR-1 is designed passively to intercept, identify and analyse radar and communications band transmissions. As fitted to the E-3, the AYR-1 utilises nose, beam and rear-facing antennas and is noted as adding some 855 kg to the weight of the Sentry mission suite. Jane's sources suggest that AN/AYR-1 is based on the one time Boeing subsidiary ARGOSystems' AR-1080 precision ES equipment. Here, AR-1080 is described as having incorporated fast-tuning synthesisers and multiple baseline interferometer technology. For its part, AYR-1 is claimed to offer direction-finding accuracies measured in "tenths of a degree" and is installed aboard French E-3F, NATO E-3A and USAF E-3B/C aircraft. Production of the system was launched at Boeing's Corinth, Texas facility during 1995 with a Lot 1 production contract covering the supply of 24 systems for installation aboard US Air Force and NATO E-3 aircraft. As of 2007, Jane's sources were suggesting that the United States Air Force's E-3G upgrade programme would include an AN/AYR-1 ES system update. Here, potential improvements were said to include a radio frequency front-end redesign (to remove local oscillator leakage, increase producability/maintainability and improve resistance to co-site interference), the introduction of a multiple platform geolocation capability and enhanced specific emitter identification/sidelobe detection.

MKI or any fighter radar is not the ideal for side sweeping large swathes of territory and keeping it under observation because it would need to point its nose. the side looking radar of proper platforms like E8 and Sentinel are what generates huge sweep areas and allows a racetrack path to keep it under constant watch. so using MKI is a non-starter,

How about this?

Whats funnier is that this was a real project (based on the sea-flanker trainer instead of the fulcrum), but the exact same configuration, viz Su-28. If FSU hadn't imploded we would have likely seen sea flanker based AAR, LRMP/ASW, AEW, Recon and EW variants in addition to a2a, maritime strike and bomber versions on the Ulyanovsk and follow-ons.

cabs ,drdo and embraer should be given the degree of MASTERS IN AESTHETICS. what a bird? but it is to be seen how it performs in tests when the indigenous systems are integrated. many a times drdo delivers the goodies only to be rejected by armed forces. trishul missile failed, arjun mk1 wasn't giving satisfactory performances then the inordinate delays in tejas programme. after so many hardships i got an inkling that this time around drdo/ cabs guys might succeed in winning accolades from iaf.but still miles to go in indigenous AEW programme. this bird will just have a 240 degree coverage. in future drdo should build an aew with 360 degree coverage. anyways this is a big achievement. i hope other ambitious ventures like lca mk2,astra,maitri,nirbhay ,arjun mk2, amca, etc succeed, so that the armed forces get the weapons they require from our own 'military industrial complex', which is yet to be developed to its full strength.

To all those that matter: I hope the EMB-145's come with Reverse Thrust. Please don't stinge on it, as you've got the option of with or without from Embraer.On wet surface runways, with a little bit of gust, getting this airplane to a dead stop can be a pretty big challenge, especially if it's heavy. I speak from my personal experience, having worked with this airplane. If RWY length is above 8,000ft, then you have your margins or else, it's a different story. On the ramp, if SDRE and about 5.6 to 5.9 in ht., take a lot of caution walking across or under the wing. The wing strakes can get you a pretty bad gash that will require stitches. If you're taller, you'll tend to get hurt on the shoulder area, if you walk into it.And from an operational perspective, if it's operated in a hot environment and gets into a colder region like up North, there can be glitches in the relay between the engine and instruments on the flt. deck. Nothing major but it'll still take 4 hours to rectify it and get it back on-line. Other than that, it's a great platform. one last bit, if you're using the lav cart and doing a flush out of the tank..got to be taking caution on the hose and make sure it's fit snug into the grooves or else the whole ramp area would get sprayed/messed up!!

cabs ,drdo and embraer should be given the degree of MASTERS IN AESTHETICS. what a bird? but it is to be seen how it performs in tests when the indigenous systems are integrated. many a times drdo delivers the goodies only to be rejected by armed forces. trishul missile failed, arjun mk1 wasn't giving satisfactory performances then the inordinate delays in tejas programme. after so many hardships i got an inkling that this time around drdo/ cabs guys might succeed in winning accolades from iaf.but still miles to go in indigenous AEW programme. this bird will just have a 240 degree coverage. in future drdo should build an aew with 360 degree coverage. anyways this is a big achievement. i hope other ambitious ventures like lca mk2,astra,maitri,nirbhay ,arjun mk2, amca, etc succeed, so that the armed forces get the weapons they require from our own 'military industrial complex', which is yet to be developed to its full strength.